Posted by: Tyrone () on Sat Sep 4 19:22:37 2004

My son Justin (then a junior) was told in Oct 2003 that if he wanted to reach the next level he would have to improve his power. At 5'9" 165lbs it seemed his linear style of hitting suited him. But the advise came from a high level coach who fields one of the best HS showcase teams in the Mid-Atlantic, so I went in search of some "power" for my kid. After several discussions and a lot of surfing I found Batspeed.com. You should have seen my son's face the first time I told him that I wanted to completely re-build his swing. "Rebuild my swing! I'm a career .400+ hitter. What do you know, your not even a coach!"
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> > > > Anyway, we went to work in November and I'd say about 1/2 through the HS season (abt. four 1/2 months later) his bat came alive. He started driving balls into the gaps with regularity and suddenly all the dads started comin around asking what I had been feeding him.
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> > > > In mid June I flew Justin down to Ft Myers for the Perfect Game Academic Showcase. We have waited patiently all these months for his report (which they've still not finished!) but today they posted the Top Prospects list. Of the 90 players that were in attendance they picked ten as Top Prospects and Justin was #5. I've reprinted the PG comments below.
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> > > > #5: Justin Handler MIF/C 5’9 165 R/R Quince Orchard HS
> > > > North Potomac, MD
> > > >
> > > > Handler may have been the most polished
> > > > “present” hitter at the Showcase. He’s strong in his hands and upper body and has a short, quick and powerful swing. Handler’s defensive tools play at both third base and behind the plate."
> > > >
> > > > From the description you might envision a squat, stocky body type with thick legs and barrel chest but that is not accurate. Justin has a well proportioned build and looks like a prototype 2b (which is the position he played when, as a 16yr old, he was named to the USSSA 18U Majors World Series All-Tournament Team this past August)
> > > > In order for him to generate power his mechanics have to be just about perfect and thanks to Jack Mankin they are more perfect, more often, than ever before!
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> > > > SH
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> > >
> > > You mean they didn't say he has great THT?.............or the best circular hand path they'd ever seen? They didn't even mention BHT????
> > >
> > > Those guys must be lost.
> >
> > Teacherman, I think you might have a misunderstanding of things. THT/BHT/CHP are CONCEPTS given defintions by Jack. It doesn't matter if a coach calls THT something else, what matters is that application of Jack's principles resulted in this very heart-warmimg testimony!
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> I was also at the National Academic that your son attended. I'm curious as to if he had hit any home runs in BP or in game competition. I'm curious because I went 4-4 in my first game with a double. I also was the 5th fastest at the event. Trying to find out what your son did that I didn't. I have been practicing Jack's principles since slightly before January. I also have a similar stature compared to your son.
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> Teacherman you obviously have no clue what goes on in scouting today. Actually, in many perfect game reports they have complemented kids on acheiving great torque in their swings, especially kids who use the no stride inward knee turn approach which is becoming alot more popular these days.

i was at the event too, although speed is my greatest asset, not power. I did observe, scouts making comments about some of the other guys. I didn't hear any of them mention bottom hand torque but I specifically heard two different scouts comment about top hand torque on several different players. I also heard circular hand path mentioned a lot.I didn't hear jack's name mentioned, though.Seems a little unfair that he is not getting the credit due him.Teacherman, I don't know your background but times are different from when (if) you played.You have some catching up to do.